Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : GPS velocities and seismicity across the Betic-Rif Arc structural domains (Morocco and Iberia) provide a basis to evaluate present-day seismotectonic processes between different deformation belts. The results show asymmetric movements in the complex Alboran system accommodating the convergence between the African (Nubian) and Eurasian plates. While the Betic Mountains are attached to Iberia, moving toward the southeast with respect to Africa, the Rif is divided into three blocks with distinct displacements relative to Nubia: (1) the Tangier block moving southeastward, (2) the Central Rif block moving SSW, and (3) the Oriental Rif block undergoing clockwise rotation. GPS-derived motions decrease in rate from the Rif nappes complex to the foreland.
ISSN: 0010-7999

hal-00411144
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411144
DOI : 10.1016/j.crte.2008.02.003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : In order to identify and quantify the Rif (Morocco) present-day deformation, especially those related to active faults (location, geometry, kinematic), we perform a morphotectonic study. The studied area and faults are located in the Northern part (conjugate faults of Al-Hoceima Bay: Trougout, Boujibar and Rouadi), the Eastern part (Nekor fault) and the Southern part of the chain (Rif frontal thrust between Fes and Meknes cities).Morphotectonic tools (DEMs at different scales, satellite and aerial pictures), field studies and Quaternary dating methods (U/Th, OSL, 14C and in-situ cosmogenic isotopes 10Be, 3He, 36Cl) allow us to characterize transtensional deformation in the Northern Rif. Horizontal and vertical slip rates along the N-S-oriented Trougout major fault are ~1.6 mm/yr and ~2 mm/yr respectively. In the Southern part, the Rif frontal thrust shows a shortening rate of ~1.8 mm/yr into Fes and Meknes area. In the Eastern part, the deformation is focused on the Nekor left-lateral strike-slip major fault with ~1.5 mm/yr. Incision features and raised marine terraces involve an uplift of the chain about ~0.2 mm/yr. The overall deformation in the Rif seems to be continuous since the Messinian-Pliocene time.These new morphotectonic constraints are consistent with the GPS measurements showing southwestward overall motion of most of the Rif belt with respect to stable Africa, associated to clockwise rotation. Finally, we propose a geodynamic model in which the Rif, the Alboran sea and the Betics belong to a single microplate bounded by the strike-slip faults of the Betics on the North, the Rif frontal thrust on the South, the Nekor and TASZ (Trans Alboran Shear Zone) strike-slip faults on the East and North-East, and the western Rif folded structures on the West.
L'objectif de cette étude est d'identifier et de quantifier les déformations actuelles dans la chaine du Rif (Maroc), notamment celles associées aux failles actives (localisation, géométrie, cinématique). Pour ce faire, nous mettons en œuvre pour la première fois dans cette région, une approche morphotectonique. Les sites et failles sélectionnés et étudiés se situent dans la partie Nord (les failles conjuguées de la baie d'Al-Hoceima: Trougout, Boujibar et Rouadi), l'Est (la faille de Nékor) et le Sud (front chevauchant sud rifain entre Fes et Meknes).A partir des outils de la morphotectonique (MNTs à différentes résolutions, images satellitaires, photographies aériennes), d'analyses de terrain et grâce aux méthodes de datation du Quaternaire (U/Th, OSL, 14C et isotopes cosmogéniques produits in-situ 10Be, 3He, 36Cl), cette étude met en évidence et quantifie une déformation transtensive dans la partie Nord de la chaine. Les vitesses de glissement horizontales et verticales le long de la faille principale d'orientation méridienne de Trougout sont de ~1.6 mm/an et ~2 mm/an, respectivement. Dans la partie Sud, nous montrons que le front rifain entre Fez et Meknes est actif avec une vitesse de raccourcissement de ~1.8 mm/an. La déformation dans la région Est se localise principalement sur la faille du Nékor avec une vitesse décrochante senestre de ~1.5 mm/an. Par ailleurs, la présence de nombreuses figures d'incision et de surfaces marines soulevées au niveau du littoral Nord témoignent d'une surrection généralisée de la chaine de l'ordre de ~0.2 mm/an. L'ensemble de cette déformation semble être constante depuis la période du Messino-Pliocène. Ces résultats sont cohérents avec les données GPS qui montrent un déplacement de ~5mm/an vers le SW de l'ensemble du Rif associé à un mouvement rotatif horaire, dans le référentiel Afrique stable. D'un point de vue géodynamique, nous proposons que le Rif, la mer d'Alboran et les Bétiques appartiennent à une même microplaque limitée au Nord par les failles décrochantes des Bétiques, au Sud par le chevauchement rifain, à l'Est et au Nord-Est par les failles décrochantes de Nékor et de la TASZ (Trans Alboran Shear Zone) et à l'Ouest par les structures plissées bordières du Rif.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01170466

NNT : 2014MON20105
tel-01170466
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01170466
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01170466v2/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01170466/file/41875_POUJOL_2014_archivage_cor.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We use velocities from 65 continuous stations and 31 survey-mode GPS sites as well as kinematic modeling to investigate present day deformation along the Africa-Iberia plate boundary zone in the western Mediterranean region. The GPS velocity field shows southwestward motion of the central part of the Rif Mountains in northern Morocco with respect to Africa varying between 3.5 and 4.0 mm/yr, consistent with prior published results. Stations in the southwestern part of the Betic Mountains of southern Spain move west-southwest with respect to Eurasia (similar to 2-3 mm/yr). The western component of Betics motion is consistent with partial transfer of Nubia-Eurasia plate motion into the southern Betics. The southward component of Betics motion with respect to Iberia is kinematically consistent with south to southwest motion of the Rif Mountains with respect to Africa. We use block modeling, constrained by mapped surface faults and seismicity to estimate the geometry and rates of strain accumulation on plate boundary structures. Our preferred plate boundary geometry includes one block between Iberia and Africa including the SW Betics, Alboran Sea, and central Rif. This geometry provides a good fit to the observed motions, suggesting a wide transpressive boundary in the westernmost Mediterranean, with deformation mainly accommodated by the Gloria-Azores fault system to the West and the Rif-Tell lineament to the East. Block boundaries encompass aspects of earlier interpretations suggesting three main deformation styles: (i) extension along the NE-SW trending Trans-Alboran shear zone, (ii) dextral strike-slip in the Betics corresponding to a well defined E-W seismic lineament, and (iii) right lateral strike-slip motion extending West to the Azores and right-lateral motion with compression extending East along the Algerian Tell. We interpret differential motion in the Rif-Alboran-Betic system to be driven both by surface processes related the Africa-Eurasia oblique convergence and sub-crustal dynamic processes associated with the long history of subduction of the Neotethys ocean lithosphere. The dextral slip identified in the Betic Mountains in Southern Spain may be related to the offshore fault that produced the Great 1755 Lisbon Earthquake, and as such may represent a significant seismic hazard for the West Mediterranean region.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00618337
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00618337
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.05.048

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We present a new set of brittle microtectonic measurements carried out in the Pliocene and Quaternary rocks outcropping in several key sectors of the western Betic and Rif orogen, the so-called Gibraltar orogenic arc. This data set, along with available earthquake focal mechanisms and borehole breakouts, allowed us to compile the Pliocene and Quaternary stress map of this area. This map provides new constraints for tectonic models and the present-day tectonic activity of the proposed active eastward subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath the Gibraltar Arc and roll-back. The horizontal maximum compressive stress (S-Hmax) is NW-SE in the Betic Orogen and N-S/NNW-SSE in the southern Rif Cordillera. There is a significant consistency between S-Hmax and the displacement field deduced from GPS measurements with respect to the African plate: both appear to reflect the NW-SE convergence between the African and the European plates that is perturbed in the Rif. We propose that part of the eastern Rif behaves as a quasi-rigid block welded to the stable African plate. This block is bounded by important faults that localized most of the deformation disturbing the stress and surface displacement field. Pliocene to Quaternary N-S to NW-SE Africa-Europe plate convergence seem to be associated to the reorganization of the remnant Early Miocene subduction system in a continental-continental collision framework. Three-dimensional reconstruction of available seismic tomography plotted against the intermediate seismicity shows that only part of the old subduction system, whose orientation ranges from N20 degrees E to N100 degrees E, remains active: the portion ranging from N30 degrees E to N40 degrees E, orthogonal to the regional convergence. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
ISSN: 0264-3707

hal-00671033
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00671033
DOI : 10.1016/j.jog.2010.12.003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of America
Résumé : International audience
We present the results of dynamic modeling of the western Mediterranean that accounts for observed global positioning system (GPS) surface deformation of the Alboran Sea and surrounding Rif and Betic Mountains as the result of the combined effects of relative motion of the Eurasian and Nubian plates, low strength in the Alboran Sea region and sub-lithospheric processes occurring beneath the External Rif domain. Assuming that the lithosphere behaves elastically over the short time period of the GPS observations, an elastic plate model is considered in our study, including an area of weak lithosphere (factor of 10) centered on the Alboran Sea and in which lateral boundary conditions consist of the Nubia-Eurasia oblique convergence. Sub-crustal processes are modeled by application of a horizontal traction on a small area (patch) at the base of the elastic plate. Our modeling studies demonstrate the need for sub-crustal or sub-lithospheric, southwestward-directed forcing to account for observed southwestward motion of the Rif and Betic domains. Based on the location, orientation, and small area of the traction patch, we hypothesize that forcing is associated with delamination and rollback of the subducted African continental lithospheric mantle beneath the External Rif zone, due to the pull of the oceanic part of the Western Mediterranean slab, a dynamic process that may be similar to that where the over-riding plate is driven toward the subduction zone during slab rollback.
ISSN: 0091-7613

hal-00524546
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00524546
DOI : 10.1130/G30963.1

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In Western Mediterranean, the Rif belt in Morocco is part of the Gibraltar Arc built during the Tertiary in the framework of Eurasia-Africa convergence. The structural and metamorphic evolution of the internal units of this belt as well as their timing, crucial to constrain the geodynamic evolution of the Alboran Sea, is still largely debated.Our study on the Ceuta Peninsula (Northern Rif) provides new structural, petrological and geochronological data (U-Th-Pb, Ar-Ar), which allow to precise the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Lower Sebtides metamorphic units with:(1) a syn-metamorphic thrusting event developed under granulite facies conditions (7–10 kbar and 780–820 °C). A major thrust zone, the Ceuta Shear Zone, drove the emplacement of metapelites and peridotitic lenses from the Ceuta Upper Unit over the orthogneisses of the Monte Hacho Lower Unit. This compressional event ended during the Upper Oligocene.(2) an extensional event developed at the boundary between amphibolite and greenschist facies conditions (400–550 °C and 1–3 kbar). During this event, the Ceuta Shear Zone has been reactivated as a normal fault. Normal ductile shear zones contributed to the final exhumation of the metamorphic units during the Early Miocene.We propose that the compressional event is related to the formation of an orogenic wedge located in the upper plate, in a backward position, of the subduction zone driving the geodynamic evolution of the Alboran domain. In this context, the episode of lithospheric thinning could be related to the opening of the Alboran basin in a back-arc position.Furthermore, unlike the previous models proposed for the Rif belt, the tectonic coupling between mantle peridotites and crustal metamorphic rocks occurred in Ceuta Peninsula at a depth of 20–30 km under high temperature conditions, before the extensional event, and thus cannot be related to the back-arc extension.
ISSN: 0040-1951

insu-01682810
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01682810
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2017.11.028

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The Neogene geodynamics evolution of the south-Alboran realm in western Mediterranean has been clarified, based on sedimentological and chronostratigraphical studies. This work focuses on three main themes of research, the first is to establish the moments for the opening and closing of the North Rifian Corridor by studying two Neogene basins of the southern edge of the Alboran sea. The second, aims to understand the behavior of these two basins face a major event in the history of the Mediterranean: The Messinian Salinity Crisis. Finally, the third theme aims to understand the modalities Post-MSC reflooding in the southern part of the Alboran realm.The late Miocene evolution of the North Rifian Corridor is clarified on the basis of chronostratigraphic studies of the Neogene Boudinar and Arbaa Taourirt basins (northeastern Morocco). The marine sediments deposited in the Boudinar basin between the early Tortonian and the late early Messinian (10 Ma to 6.1 Ma) and in the late Tortonian-earliest Messinian interval in the Arbaa Taourirt basin. Palaeoenvironmental data record a major drowning in association with extensive tectonics in the Boudinar basin during the early Messinian at ~7.2 Ma. At the same time, prograding conglomerates and sandstones developed over the late Tortonian marls in the Arbaa Taourirt basin. During the late-early Messinian, a shallowing trend occurred in the Boudinar basin. Thus, the North Rifian Corridor opened at ~7.2 Ma ensuring Atlantic-Mediterranean connections, then was progressively restricted during the late-early Messinian and totally closed at ~6.1 Ma. New sedimentological and paleontological studies of the late Messinian-early Pliocene deposits in the Boudinar basin provide new information on the Messinian Salinity Crisis (« MSC ») and the Zanclean reflooding in the Alboran sea. The Messinian erosional surface « MES » is of late Messinian age and was emplaced in subaerial settings. It is polygenic, its original geometry is locally preserved and was re-shaped by the Pliocene transgressive surface. Above the « MES », the Boudinar basin infill is characterized by a wide variety of facies from continental settings to lower offshore conditions. Two major sets are recognized: a latest Messinian-Zanclean set that constitutes a transgressive-regressive megasequence interrupted at the top by a tectonic unconformity, and an Plio-Quaternary regressive set. During the late Messinian Zanclean interval, four successive depositional models were documented. They record major changes in palaeoflow and paleogeography related to base-level fluctuations. No Gilbert-type delta has ben identified at Boudinar. the beginning of base-level rise is marked by normal regressions and by the formation of several lacs and fan-delta complexes on the margins of the basin in the late Messinian and befor the marine reefloding in the early Zanclean. The marine reflooding of the basin appears later, with a transgressive surface of ravinment and a thick package of transgressive deposits. These transgressive deposits onlap over all previous deposits. The major part of the basin infill did not issue from an inner landward position (south of the basin) but from the northwestern side of the basin, i.e. near the Mediterranean. Sediments were subsequently reworked by storms and transported by longshore-drift towards the south. a maximum flooding surface is found several tens of metres above the « MES ». This fiding is consistent with a progressive and not a catastrophic early Zanclean flooding of the westernMediterranean after the Mediterranean base-level fall.
Sur la base d’études sédimentologiques et chronostratigraphiques dans les bassins de Boudinar et d’Arbaa Taourirt (Rif oriental, Maroc), l’évolution géodynamique néogène du domaine sud-Alboran en Méditerranée occidentale a été clarifiée. Ce travail est axé sur trois grandes thématiques de recherche. La première vise à l’établissement d’un cadre chronostratigraphique pour l’ouverture et la fermeture du Couloir Nord Rifain, par l’étude de deux bassins nèogènes de la bordure sud de la mer d’Alboran. La deuxième, vise à comprendre le comportement de ces deux bassins face à un événement majeur de l’histoire de la Mediterranée : la Crise de salinité messinienne. Finalement, la troisième vise à comprendre les modalités de remise en eau de la Méditerranée après la Crise : le reenoiement pliocène. L'évolution du Couloir Nord Rifain au Miocène supérieur est clarifiée sur la base des études chronostratigraphiques des bassins néogènes de Boudinar et d'Arbaa Taourirt (Maroc Nord oriental). Les sédiments marins miocènes se sont déposés entre le Tortonien inférieur et le Messinien inférieur (10 à 6.1 Ma) dans le bassin de Boudinar et entre le Tortonien supérieur et le Messinien inférieur dans le bassin d'Arbaa Taourirt. Les données paléoenvironnementales enregistrent un ennoyage important du bassin de Boudinar en relation avec une tectonique extensive pendant le Messinien inférieur (~7.2 Ma). En même temps, des conglomérats et de grès progradants se sont développés au-dessus des marnes tortoniennes dans le bassin d’Arbaa Taourirt. Le bassin de Boudinar a subi un désapprofondissement au Messinien inférieur. Ces résultats indiquent que le Couloir Nord Rifain s’est ouvert à ~7.2 Ma assurant les communications entre l’Atlantique et la Méditerranée, puis a subi une restriction progressive pendant le Messinien inférieur avant d’être totalement fermé à ~6.1 Ma.De nouvelles études sédimentologiques et paléontologiques des dépôts Messinien supérieur-Pliocène inférieur dans le bassin de Boudinar fournissent des informations sur la Crise de salinité messinienne (« MSC ») et le réennoiement zancléen dans la Mer d'Alboran. L’un des marqueurs majeurs de la Crise est identifié : la surface d’érosion messinienne « MES ». Elle est d'âge Messinien supérieur et a été mise en place dans des conditions subaériennes. Sa géométrie originale n’est préservée que localement et a été remodelée par la surface transgressive du Pliocène inférieur. Au dessus de la « MES » le remplissage sédimentaire du bassin de Boudinar est caractérisé par une grande variété de faciès allant des conditions de dépôts continentales jusqu’à des conditions d’offshore inférieur. Deux ensembles majeurs sont reconnus : un ensemble messinien terminal-zancléen qui constitue une mégaséquence transgressive-regressive, interrompue au sommet par une discordance tectonique, et un ensemble plio-quaternaire regressif. Durant l’intervalle Messinien terminal-Zancléen, quatre modèles de dépôts successifs ont été documentés enregistrant des changements majeurs de paléocourants et de paléogéographies, liés aux fluctuations de niveau de base. Nous n’avons pas identifié de Gilbert delta à Boudinar. La remontée du niveau de base est marquée par une régression normale et par le développement des lacs et de complexes de fan-deltas sur les marges du bassin pendant le Messinien supérieur, avant l’inondation marine au Zancléen basal. Le réennoiement marin du bassin apparait plus tard avec une surface de transgression ravinante et par d’épais dépôts transgressifs, en onlap sur tous les dépôts précédents. La majeure partie du remplissage sédimentaire du bassin n’est pas reçue des reliefs de la bordure sud du bassin, mais du côté Nord-Ouset au bord de la Méditerranée. Les sédiments sont alors remaniés par les tempêtes et transportés vers le sud par la dérive littorale. Une surface d’inondation maximale a été identifiée à plusieurs dizaines de mètres au-dessus de la « MES ». Ceci suggère un ennoiement progressif et non catastrophique, après la chute du niveau de base méditerranéen.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01473572

Droits : http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/licences/copyright/
tel-01473572
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01473572
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01473572/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01473572/file/Th%C3%A8se-achalhi.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Gulf of Cadiz spans the plate boundary between Africa and Eurasia west of the Betic–Rif mountain belt. A narrow east dipping subduction zone descends beneath the Gulf of Cadiz and the straits of Gibraltar. The deep crustal structure of the Gulf and the adjacent SW Iberian and Moroccan margins is constrained by numerous multi-channel seismic reflection and wide-angle seismic surveys. A compilation of these existing studies is presented in the form of depth to basement, sediment thickness, depth to Moho and crustal thickness maps. These structural maps image an E–W trending trough, with thin (< 10 km) crust beneath the Gulf of Cadiz. This trough is filled by an eastward thickening wedge of sediments, reaching a thickness of 10–15 km in the eastern Gulf. These sediments are tectonically deformed, primarily along a series of westward-vergent thrust faults and represent a 200–250 km wide accretionary wedge. The northern and especially the southern limits of the accretionary wedge are marked by sharp morphological lineaments showing evidence of recent deformation. These tectonic limits are situated in an internal position with respect to the Miocene deformation front (external Betic and Rif allocthons), which has been abandoned. At the western boundary of the accretionary wedge, near the adjacent Seine and Horseshoe abyssal plains, an E–W trending basement high (Coral Patch Ridge) can be seen indenting the deformation front in an asymmetric manner. Analog modeling is performed using granular materials accreted against a semicircular backstop (representing the basement of the Rif and Betic mountain belts). The modeling initially produces a symmetric, arcuate accretionary wedge. The ensuing collision of an oblique rigid indenter retards accretion on one side, resulting in an embayment and a locally steeper deformation front. The deformation pattern observed in morphology and high-resolution seismic profiles suggests the accretionary wedge and underlying subduction system is still active. The implications of active subduction for the source region of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and the regional seismic hazard assessment are discussed.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00424922
http://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-00424922
http://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-00424922/document
http://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-00424922/file/Gutscher_09Tphys_rev.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2008.11.031

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag (Germany) Springer Verlag
Résumé : The present study aims to review palaeoecological evidence for environmental changes induced by human activities over the last few millennia in the montane landscapes of Morocco. The study is based on well-dated pollen and geochemical records from the Rif and the Middle Atlas mountains, to show spatial and temporal variation in the onset and intensity of exploitation of forest, soil and mineral resources. Before ca. 2000 BP, anthropogenic impact was minimal. At about that time, abrupt changes of the arboreal pollen proportions, with a decline in all tree taxa, indicate a reduction of the forest cover interpreted as being anthropogenic. In the Rif Mountains, increased influx of carbonates (Ca) in the sedimentary records indicates enhanced soil erosion coincident with the reduction in tree cover. In the Middle Atlas, reduced forest cover is linked to geochemical evidence for mining and metallurgy of lead (Pb), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn). These industrial activities correspond to the expansion of the Roman Empire into Morocco at around AD 40 and show a decline when the Romans were displaced by the Vandals about five centuries later.
ISSN: 0263-0338

hal-01217206
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01217206
DOI : 10.1007/s10437-015-9186-7

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Taylor & Francis
Résumé : New structural data and P-T estimates of syn-deformational assemblages within the Beni Bousera peridotites and their crustal envelope are used to explain their Alpine exhumation. The Beni Bousera peridotites occur as thin sheets within high grade crustal units of the lower Sebtides (inner Rif, Morocco) and are composed of weakly deformed spinel lherzolite in the core of the massif and garnet-spinel mylonite at the rim. The main foliation trajectories in both the peridotites and overlying crustal units show systematic rotation towards their mutual contact, indicating a kilometer-scale top to the NW shearing with a dextral component along this crust/mantle contact. Widespread top to the NW shear criteria within the crustal units overlying the peridotite support this feature. Available ages constrain the development of the main foliation in both the peridotites and crustal rocks between 25 and 20 Ma. New P-T data from the peridotites show that deformation occurs during decompression from approximate to 22 kbar, 1050 degrees C to approximate to 9-15 kbar, 800 degrees C. As a consequence, exhumation of the Beni Bousera peridotites takes place during the Oligo-Miocene lithosphere thinning in the footwall of a lithospheric extensional shear zone. The exceptional preservation of garnet within the mylonitic peridotites results from rapid cooling of the border of the massif due to the juxtaposition with colder crustal rocks along this shear zone. Uplifting of the hot mantle rocks simultaneously induces high temperature metamorphism in the overlying crustal units. These new findings allow us to reconstruct the deformation history of the Beni Bousera region and the Alboran domain in the framework of the western Mediterranean geodynamics during the last 40 Myrs.. (C) 2011 Lavoisier SAS. All rights reserved
ISSN: 0985-3111

hal-00767654
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00767654
DOI : 10.3166/ga.24.49-60

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Located on the margin of the west Alboran basin, the Gibraltar Arc (Betic-Rif mountain belt) displays post-Pliocene vertical movements evidenced by uplifted marine sedimentary basins and marine terraces. Quantification of vertical movements is an important clue to understand the origin of present-day relief generation in the Betic-Rif mountain chain together with the causes of the Messinian Salinity Crisis. In this paper, we present the results of a pluridisciplinary study combining an analysis of low temperature thermochronology and Pliocene basins evolution to constrain the exhumation history and surface uplift of internals units of the Rif belt (Northern Morocco). The mean (U-Th)/He apatite ages obtained from 11 samples are comprised between 14.1 and 17.8 Ma and display a wide dispersion, which could be explained by a great variability of apatite chemistries in the analyzed samples. No correlations between altitude and age have been found along altitudinal profile suggesting a rapid exhumation during this period. Thermal modeling using our (U-Th)/He apatite ages and geochronological data previously obtained in the same area (40Ar/39Ar and K/Ar data on biotite, zircon and apatite fission track) allow us to propose a cooling history. The rocks suffered a rapid cooling at 60-100 °C/Ma between 22.5 and 19 Ma, then cooled to temperatures around 40 °C between 19 and 18 Ma. They were re-heated at around 110 °C between 18 and 15 Ma then rapidly cooled and exhumed to reach the surface temperature at around 13 Ma. The re-heating could be related to a renewal in thrusting and burying of the inner zones. Between 15 and 13 Ma the cooling resumed at a rate of 50 °C/Ma indicating an exhumation rate of 0.8 mm/y considering an average 40 °C/km geothermal gradient. This exhumation may be linked to the extension in the Alboran Sea. Otherwise biostratigraphic and sedimentological analysis of Pliocene basins of the internal Rif provided informations on the more recent events and vertical movements. Pliocene deposits of the Rifian coast represent the passive infilling of palaeo-rias between 5.33 and 3.8 Ma. The whole coastal area was uplifted at slow average rates (0.01-0.03 mm/y) in relation with a northeastward tilting of 0.2-0.3° since the Lower-Pliocene. A late Pliocene to present extensional tectonics associated to uplift has been identified all along the coastal ranges of the Internal Zone of the Rif chain. This extension was coeval with the major late Pliocene to Pleistocene extensional episode of the Alboran Sea and appears to be still active nowadays. No significant late Messinian uplift was evidenced, thus calling into question the geodynamic models relating the closure of the marine gateways and the MSC to slab roll back.
ISSN: 0264-3707

hal-01053531
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053531
DOI : 10.1016/j.jog.2014.01.006

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We present GPS observations in Morocco and adjacent areas of Spain from 15 continuous (CGPS) and 31 survey-mode (SGPS) sites extending from the stable part of the Nubian plate to central Spain. We determine a robust velocity field for the W Mediterranean that we use to constrain models for the Iberia-Nubia plate boundary. South of the High Atlas Mountain system, GPS motions are consistent with Nubia plate motions from prior geodetic studies. We constrain shortening in the Atlas system to <1.5 mm/yr. 95% confidence level. North of the Atlas Mountains, the GPS velocities indicate Nubia motion with respect to Eurasia, but also a component of motion normal to the direction of Nubia-Eurasia motion, consisting of southward translation of the Rif Mountains in N Morocco at rates exceeding 5 mm/yr. This southward motion appears to be directly related to Miocene opening of the Alboran Sea. The Betic Mountain system north of the Alboran Sea is characterized by WNW motion with respect to Eurasia at 1-2 mm/yr. paralleling Nubia-Eurasia relative motion. In addition, sites located in the Betics north of the southerly moving Rif Mountains also indicate a component of southerly motion with respect to Eurasia. We interpret this as indicating that deformation associated with Nubia-Eurasia plate motion extends into the southern Betics, but also that the Betic system may be affected by the same processes that are causing southward motion of the Rif Mountains south of the Alboran Sea. Kinematic modeling indicates that plate boundary geometries that include a boundary through the Straits of Gibraltar are most compatible with the component of motion in the direction of relative plate motion, but that two additional blocks (Alboran-Rif block, Betic Mountain block), independent of both Nubia and Eurasia are needed to account for the motions of the Rif and Betic Mountains normal to the direction of relative plate motion. We speculate that the southward motions of the Alboran-Rif and Betic blocks may be related to mantle flow, possibly induced by southward rollback of the subducted Nubian plate beneath the Alboran Sea and Rif Mountains.
ISSN: 0264-3707

hal-00475538
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475538
DOI : 10.1016/j.jog.2009.10.007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Correlations between major and minor transition elements in tectonically emplaced orogenic peridotites have been ascribed to variable degrees of melt extraction and melt–rock reaction processes, leading to depletion or refertilization. To elucidate how such processes are recorded in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, we processed a large geochemical dataset for peridotites from the four tectono-metamorphic domains of the Beni Bousera orogenic massif (Rif Belt, northern Morocco). Our study reveals that variations in bulk-rock major and minor elements, Mg-number and modal mineralogy of lherzolites, as well as their clinopyroxene trace element compositions, are inconsistent with simple partial melting and mainly resulted from different reactions between melts and depleted peridotites. Up to 30% melting at < 3 GPa and cryptic metasomatism can account for the geochemical variations of most harzburgites. In Grt–Sp mylonites, melting and melt–rock reactions are masked by tectonic mixing with garnet pyroxenites and subsolidus re-equilibration. In the rest of the massif, lherzolites were mostly produced by refertilization of a refractory protolith (Mg-number ∼ 91, Ol ∼ 70%, Cpx/Opx = 0·4) via two distinct near-solidus, melt–rock reactions: (1) clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene precipitation and olivine consumption at melt/rock ratios <0·75 and variable mass ratio between crystallized minerals and infiltrated melt (R), which are recorded fairly homogeneously throughout the massif; (2) dissolution of orthopyroxene and precipitation of clinopyroxene and olivine at melt/rock ratios ≤1 and R = 0·2–0·3, which affected mainly the Ariègite–Seiland and Seiland domains. The distribution of secondary lherzolites in the massif suggests that the first refertilization reaction occurred prior to the differentiation of the Beni Bousera mantle section into petro-structural zones, whereas the second reaction was associated with the development of the tectono-metamorphic domains. Our data support a secondary, refertilization-related origin for most lherzolites in orogenic peridotite massifs.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-01526901
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01526901
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egx003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Betic-Rif orocline surrounding the Alboran Sea, the westernmost tip of the Mediterranean Sea, accommodates the NW–SE convergence between the Nubia and Eurasia plates. Recent GPS observations indicate a ∼4 mm/yr SW motion of the Rif Mountains, relative to stable Nubia, incompatible with a simple two-plate model. New gravity data acquired in this study define a pronounced negative Bouguer anomaly south of the Rif, interpreted as a ∼40 km-thick crust in a state of non-isostatic equilibrium. We study the correlation between these present-day kinematic and geodynamic processes using a finite-element code to model in 2-D the first-order behavior of a lithosphere affected by a downward normal traction (representing the pull of a high-density body in the upper mantle). We show that intermediate viscosities for the lower crust and uppermost mantle (View the MathML source1021–1022Pas) allow an efficient coupling between the mantle and the base of the brittle crust, thus enabling (1) the conversion of vertical movement, resulting from the downward traction, to horizontal movement and (2) shortening in the brittle upper crust. Our results show that incipient delamination of the Nubian continental lithosphere, linked to slab pull, can explain the present-day abnormal tectonics, contribute to the gravity anomaly observed in northern Morocco, and give insight into recent tectonics in the Western Mediterranean region.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01467130
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467130
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.08.041

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
The Rif Chain (Northern Morocco) belongs, with the Betic Cordillera(Southern Spain), to the western termination of the Alpine belt. Deepestunits of the Rif Internal Zones (i.e. Lower Sebtides) outcrop in three areas, from North to South : Ceuta, Cabo Negro and Beni Bousera.The quick exhumation of these units during the Late Oligocene-EarlyMiocene is related with a crustal thinning and the Alboran Sea rifting.Despite Beni Bousera massif has been well investigated, no data areavailable in Ceuta and Cabo Negro areas. This study aims to constrainthe last steps of cooling and exhumation in the Lower Sebtides usingmedium- and low-temperature thermochronological data. Combinationof Ar-Ar on micas, fission tracks and (U-Th)/He on apatites (respectivelyAFT and AHe) from high-grade rocks allows understanding thermalhistory between 450-350°C and surface temperatures. These datasuggest a similar cooling evolution of the Ceuta and Cabo Negro units.Ages obtained with all these methods are comprised in the same interval,between 22 and 18 Ma. These data record an almost instantaneouscooling (between 50 and 200°C/Ma) associated to final exhumation afterthe Oligo-Miocene thermal event affecting these units at shallowdepths (10 km). Low-temperature data suggest that Ceuta and CaboNegro units cooled at surface temperatures before Beni Bousera ones.Since the end of Burdigalian, the Rif internal zones vertical movementsdid not exceed 1km, even during the Messinian Salinity. AFT and AHeages in the whole Sebtides are also slightly older than these obtainedin their Spanish equivalent (Alpujarrides). The Gibraltar arc is dividedinto several independent crustal blocks separated by major fault zonesperpendicular to the coast that could have induced independent verticalmovements during the entire Neogene
24 ème Réunion des sciences de la Terre 2014
Pau, France

insu-01080768
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01080768

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In this paper, we present the first estimate of the Holocene deformation along the southern front of Gibraltar arc (Morocco) and the first field constraints on the local 1755 CE Fes-Meknes surface rupturing earthquake which could be associated to the “Great Lisbon Earthquake” (M > 8.5) in November 1st, 1755. Using satellite imagery, aerial photographs and field investigations, we carried out a morphotectonic study along the ~ 150 km-long Southern Rif Front (SRF) to identify the most recent evidences of tectonic activity. Analyzed offset alluvial deposits confirm that (i) the last ~ 5 ka cumulative deformation leading to a slip rate of ~ 3.5 ± 1 mm/yr for this segment of the SRF is consistent with the GPS derived horizontal shortening rate of 2–4 mm/yr and (ii) a recent major earthquake ruptured a ~ 30 km-long segment along the SRF. Based on deposits dating and historical seismicity we propose that this seismic event occurred in 1755 as a local earthquake. Even though this 1755 local event cannot be considered as a strong aftershock of the main Lisbon seismic event (M > 8.5), their temporal closeness, their occurrence under the same convergent stress regime (~ NNW-SSE-oriented compression) and the fact that Fes-Meknes area was strongly shaken during the Lisbon earthquake, raises the question of the possible triggering of the Fes earthquake. Anyway, our new results suggest that most of the Nubia-Rif belt convergence is accommodated by the SRF, making it potentially the most destructive structure of the Rif.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01622048
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622048
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2017.05.036

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We present results of a geomorphological and morphotectonic analysis of the northeastern part of the Rif. We show that the present day kinematics of the Rif is characterized by active deformation along the Trougout and Nekor faults in the North-East. Digital Elevation Models of offset drainage features (streams, fluvial terraces) allow determining a normal-left-lateral motion along the Trougout fault and a left-lateral strike-slip motion along the Nekor fault. Preliminary 3He cosmogenic dates of tectonic markers yield vertical and horizontal slip rates of ∼0.9 mm/yr and ∼0.5 mm/yr, respectively along the Trougout fault. The present-day localized transtension seen in the north-eastern Rif morphology (Ras Tarf) is coeval with uplifted marine terraces near the Al Hoceima Bay. U/Th dating of shells yield an average uplift rate of ∼0.2 mm/yr during the past 500 ka. These data show that active transtension in the northeastern Rif is also associated with uplift. These new morphotectonic constraints are consistent with the GPS measurements showing southwestward overall motion of most of the Rif belt with respect to stable Africa.
ISSN: 0264-3707

hal-01053492
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053492
DOI : 10.1016/j.jog.2014.01.004

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Magnolia Press
Résumé : International audience
Hydroporus rifensis sp. n. is described from Central Rif in northern Morocco. The new species is the first member of the Hydroporus tristis-group to be recorded from the African continent. Analyses of cytochrome oxydase 1 (CO1) and 16S rRNA partial sequences indicate unambiguously that H. rifensis sp. n. is a geographical vicariant of the widespread and common European species Hydroporus gyllenhalii Schiodte, 1841, whose closest Iberian populations are known from southern Spain and southern Portugal. Genetically the two species are very close, but in terms of morphology they differ considerably, to the extent that in several respects H. rifensis sp. n. is more similar to some species of the H. striola-group, the sister clade of the H. tristis-group. The new species differs from H. gyllenhalii notably by its larger size, lighter elytra, stronger pubescence, much finer elytral punctation, morphology of the median prosternum area, and marked differentiation of protarsal claws in male. Hydroporus rifensis sp. n. is the first dytiscid species endemic to the Rif and the second Hydroporus species endemic to Morocco.
ISSN: 1175-5326

hal-01544481
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01544481
DOI : 10.11646/zootaxa.3841.1.4

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Detailed structural and petrological mapping in the Beni Bousera peridotite (Rif Belt, northern Morocco) shows that this orogenic peridotite massif is composed of four tectono-metamorphic domains with consistent kinematics, marked by a pervasive, shallowly dipping foliation with a NW-SE stretching lineation that progressively rotates towards a NNE-SSW orientation in the lowermost part of the massif. From top to bottom, these domains are garnet-spinel mylonites, Ariègite subfacies fine-grained porphyroclastic spinel peridotites, Ariègite-Seiland subfacies porphyroclastic, and Seiland subfacies coarse-porphyroclastic to coarse-granular spinel peridotites. Microstructures and crystal preferred orientations point to deformation dominantly by dislocation creep in all domains, but the continuous increase in average olivine grain size indicates decreasing plastic work rates from top to bottom. This evolution in deformation conditions is consistent with the change in synkinematic pressure and temperature conditions, from 900°C at 2*0 GPa in garnet-spinel mylonites to 1150°C at 1*8 GPa in the Seiland domain. A pervasive diffuse dunitic-websteritic layering subparallel to the foliation suggests deformation in the presence of melt in the Seiland domain. Gravitational instabilities owing to local melt accumulation may account for <200 m wide areas exhibiting a vertical lineation in this domain. To account for the consistent kinematics and the tectono-metamorphic evolution, which implies a temperature gradient of c. 125°C km−1 preserved across the Beni Bousera massif, we propose that the entire massif records the functioning of a low-angle shear zone, a few kilometres wide, which accommodated exhumation of the base of the lithosphere from ∼90 to ∼60 km depth. Partial melting in the Seiland domain may be explained by fast decompression of the footwall, without the need for exotic heat sources. Moreover, if the present-day orientation of the shear zone is similar to that when it was active in the mantle, the stretching lineations at high angle to the metamorphic gradient imply that shearing parallel to the trend of the belt accompanied thinning; that is, a transtensional deformation of the margin.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-00950056
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00950056
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egt067

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
A NE-SW magnetotelluric 110 km-long profile including 18 sites was acquired across the western Rif Cordillera along the Eurasian-African plate boundary, allowing to constrain its poorly known deep structure. It extends from the Internal Zones, close to the Alboran coast, crossing the External Zones and up to the Gharb foreland basin. The periods recorded range from 0.001 s to 1000 s. The combination of magnetotelluric data with available geological data provides new insight regarding the relationship between deep and shallow crustal structures of the Rif Cordillera. Analyses of structural dimensionality suggest a preferential NW-SE direction, and a 2D joint inversion was performed. A 3D inversion extending the 2D model along the strike confirmed the reliability of this approach. The magnetotelluric model shows a heterogeneous upper crust in agreement with the geological structures observed at surface. The Internal Zones correspond to resistive (metamorphic rocks) and conductive (peridotites) bodies, while the External Zones and the foreland basin are characterized by large conductive bodies of variable thickness. A crustal detachment level separating shallow geological units from a probable variscan basement was inferred. At depth, the most relevant feature consists of large resistive bodies with a shallow irregular top, located below the frontal part of the Rif. The outcrops of exotic metapelitic, granitic and gneissic blocks in the frontal part of the Cordillera suggest that these large resistive bodies may correspond to a gneissic or granitic basement surrounded by metapelitic rocks. Late contractive thrust and diapiric processes were responsible for their uplift and shallow emplacement. The Rif constitutes an active southwestward vergent orogenic wedge, oblique to the present-day NW-SE convergent Eurasian-African plate boundary.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00670999
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00670999
DOI : 10.1029/2011GC003783